Week 1 of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is done. Seven days of daily writing on my novel, POISON PEN FRIENDS, is done.

Statistics

For those who like numbers, here’s the current status in word count:

• 13,661 words toward the NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 words in November (27% complete)
• 24,361 words toward the overall novel goal of 90,000 words (27% complete)

I started a few scenes prior to November so I could get a feel for the characters’ voice and mannerisms. That explains why there are two different sets of numbers. It’s a coincidence that both sets of figures show 27% completion.

At 13,661 words in seven days, that averages to a daily word count of 1,952,, slightly better than the 1,667 needed to reach 50,000 if writing every day. Since there are some days in November that I expect I won’t be writing, I’m trying to stay above the minimum number. So far so good!

Characters

As a reminder, there are three Point of View (POV) characters in POISON PEN FRIENDS. I still have not decided which one will be the main character. I’m writing each story arc as if that character is the lead.

The three characters are:

Nina – At 74, Nina is the senior character. She’s a retired art teacher and the recipient of the first Poison Pen letter. Having done a lot of international travel, she has a beautiful collection of scarfs and shawls.

Megan – Megan is Penny’s mother, who turned 40  the same year she was terminated from her professional position. I found some YouTube videos of female marketing professionals that gave me some inspiration for mannerisms and speech patterns. Megan has a pearl necklace that has special meaning for her.

Penny – Penny is my youngest POV character at 16, a high school sophomore. She’s been a challenging character to get to know. She mostly wears black but likes to put on colorful, mismatched socks. She signs her letters as Poison Pen.

There are also a number of minor characters associated with each of the POV characters. It has been fun adding details for those characters. A couple of the characters even developed romantic interests that I wasn’t expected.

Plot

I’m using the Save the Cat plotting approach. In this approach there are three acts, with multiple elements in each act.

Act 1 – This act includes an opening image, setup, catalyst, and debate. The setup includes  a theme statement, which is a message the POV character must come to accept by the end of the novel. The catalyst is also known at the inciting incident. NaNoWriMo WEEK 1 STATUS: All the elements, except for Penny’s debate, have been written.

The three themes are:

1. Don’t let anyone discourage you from doing that which you are meant to do.
2. The world doesn’t revolve around you and what you want.
3. You worry too much about money.

Can you guess which theme relates to which POV character?

Act 2 – This Act includes an intro to the act, fun and games, story about a minor character, the midpoint, the bad guys close in, all is lost, and dark night of the soul. This Act is a large chunk of the book, and this is where I’m currently working. The problem that was introduced in Act 1 is getting bigger. NaNoWriMo WEEK 1 STATUS: Currently working in the fun and games section.

Act 3 – This Act includes an intro to the act, finale, and the final image.  Most of this Act is the challenge leading up to the climax. It’s also where loose ends need to be tied up. NaNoWriMo WEEK 1 STATUS: Following the advice in the Story Genius book, I went ahead and wrote the final image for all three characters. That way I know what the end state looks like and that’s what I’m writing toward.

 

NaNoWriMo Week 1 Impressions

At the end of Week 1, I’m feeling good about the overall flow of writing. The characters are developing nicely. My writing is crappy at this point, but the words are getting written down. Editing after NaNoWriMo will improve the quality.

Some scenes are little more than dialog, like a screenplay. This tells me I have plenty more words to add to provide more description of the setting and the character’s actions.

My prep work in October was creating the skeleton of the story. My intent with NaNoWriMo is to cover the skeleton with muscles. After the first draft is completed, I’ll edit to add the skin, hair, and clothes on the finished novel.

Now, I need to return to POISON PEN FRIENDS to get today’s words written. Hope you enjoyed this update of my NaNoWriMo progress.